Lessons Learned: How College Students Find Information in the Digital Age (Report)

Produced by Project Information Literacy, the Lessons Learned: How College Students Find Information in the Digital Age report (issued December 2009) has plenty of data for academic librarians to consider. Many of the findings are distressing for they show that students generally avoid librarians and have a very narrow view of the library’s services. Thank you Dr Allison J. Head and Dr Michael B. Eisenberg for doing this important research. Here are some of the key findings worth considering:

• Only about 25% of instructors advise students to recommended a librarian to do course-related research.
• “The relatively consistent pattern of information usage suggests that most students in our study favored a risk-averse and predictable information-seeking strategy. The student approach appears to be learned by rote and reliant on using a small set of resources nearly each and every time.” – page 32
• We see a perfect storm brewing on some campuses: (1) many students have imperatives to graduate in four years or less, because of the weak economy, rising tuition costs, and pressure from the institution and family; (2) many students take a brimming course load each term, which may require more work than they are capable of completing; (3) many students develop a work style that tries to get as much done in as little time as possible and work expands to fill the time allotted; and (4) many studentsʼ information-seeking competencies end up being highly contextual, a set of predictable skills developed for passing courses, not for lifelong literacy and professional goals beyond college… As a result, we see the very important pedagogical goals of deep learning and critical thinking are at risk of being greatly impeded within the academy.” – page 34
• “We see a trend that concerns us: Students in our study developed information strategy that was learned by rote, applied with dogged consistency, and resulted in respectable grades. Many studentsʼ research methods appear to be far from experimental, new, developmental, or innovative.” – page 34

There is much for librarians to think about here, not least of which is the question of student information habits. It strike me as likely that many students form their information habits prior to starting university or college and that they often do little to change. The report also found that students typically start their research process with assigned readings and a handful of other resources. Inspiring students to learn more deeply is part of the challenge that academic librarians face and I’m not sure how that can be achieved. One option is to work more closely with faculty members, many of which no doubt share the concern that students are not learning critical thinking skills in much depth.

Thanks , K.G. Schneider, (author of the excellent Free Range Librarian blog) for pointing this study out.

Learning economics: an introduction in five books

In 2008, I started to become very interested in learning more about economics. There are several reasons for this including the fact that a friend had recently started a PhD in the subject and the fact that the financial crisis was starting to bubble over. I hda also been listening to the EconTalk podcast for some time by then and wanted to learn more. Several years earlier, I had taken an undergraduate economics course and it was awful; boring charts and math that seemingly had nothing to do with the real world. Then, I happened to come across some books that helped me learn more about the topic. In this post, I’m going to describe some of them and what I learned from them. One of the most important things I learned about economics is that it goes far beyond the world of business; it is a social science that can be used to explain and investigate all kinds of events and behaviour.

The Economic Naturalist by Robert H. Frank

This book is highly readable and really provides a good introduction to the fundamental principles of economics, including incentives and supply and demand. And yes, it is free of abstract diagrams that make you scratch your head in confusion. The book is also incredibly engaging due to its unique format. For years, Frank has assigned his students the task of seeking to explain some aspect of daily life using economic principles. The catch is that they have to answer the problem in 500 words. That kind of restraint was very productive and you get all kinds of interesting questions asked and answered in this book. In contrast, I was much less interested in Frank’s 2009 book, The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide: Common Sense Principles for Troubled Times, which collects his columns from the New York Times and other sources. There are some interesting sections there but it doesn’t give you the kind of education his earlier popular book provides.

You also can read the first chapter of the Economic Naturalist for free online. If you want to get a sample of Frank’s newspaper style writing, you can read some of his writing for the New York Times. If you’re curious to kno w more about Frank’s views on the current sorry state of economics education, his interview on EconTalk is the place to go.

Discover Your Inner Economist by Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen is an economics professor who is also co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog, one of the best economics blogs I’ve read out there with posts on all kinds of topics. DYIE is a conversational kind of book that is endlessly fascinating and gives you a sense of Cowen’s wide ranging interests. He looks at topics ranging from dentist to dining around the world (e.g. he argues that poor countries or neighbourhoods tend to have better food than rich areas since the main cost of really good food is labour). It was a lot of fun to read but it does not come across quite as strongly as other books I’ve read. At times, it is a weird blend of economics and self-help; a combination that seems promising but ultimately doesn’t quite work. His blog, mentioned above, is well worth a read though be prepared for a variety of topics there too.

Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levvit and Stephen J. Dubner

These pair of books (the original in 2005 and the “super” one in 2009) can be credited with creating a great deal of popular interest in economics. After all, where else are you going to find economists trying to explain the economics of drug gangs and prostitutes? That’s much more sexy that trying to price mortgages or deriveratives. Both authors have got a lot of attention out of these books and they write a fun NY Times blog on economics too. These are probably the most page-turning economics books you’ll ever read but you might well end up feeling a bit dissatisfied. There’s no conclusion or effort made to draw larger conclusions; you just get a bunch of case studies on a seemingly random set of topics. Would I recommend the books? They’re fun to talk about and read very quickly but I don’t know that I’d consider them to be all that great. BUT, if you think economics is boring and just about topics like interest rates, then you should read Freakonomics.

The Freakonomics books are probably the most book-club friendly of the books discussed here but I wonder at their enduring value. For me and others, they showed that economics can be used to discuss and understand problems outside of business school and the stock market, and for that, they deserve some credit and recognition.

Filthy Lucre: Economics For People Who Hate Capitalism by Joseph Heath

This is one unique book written by Canadian philosophy professor Joseph Heath and it has a unique structure. Heath systematically looks at economics points routinely misunderstood by the political left and right and takes them apart. I couldn’t find a part of the book online, but there’s an extended interview with Heath on YouTube that gives you an idea of what the book is about. For example, Heath attacks the idea capitalism is somehow natural and good (regulation is needed to make it work well), for example. Heath also discusses the fallacy that taxes eliminate wealth or the economy; taxes pay for education, schools, public health programs, regulation and the framework of rules that makes life relatively pleasant and safe. If you’re more interested about the relationship between politics and economic arguments, this is a good book to consider. Neither the traditional political right or left has a monopoly on economic wisdom.

The book also has a damn good cover (a pig capitalist!) and that’s part of the reason that I first picked it in the bookstore. The ultimate appeal of this book is the philosophical way Heath approaches the topic, the way he brings politics into the discussion. Economics is a challenging topic and figuring out how to explain the world is a challenge, but I think these books help you get started. It is not a mystery and more people should get interested in the topic and see how it can apply to other aspects of life beyond the traditional areas of economic interest like business, interest rates, investment and so forth.

Yaffle: Memorial University’s communicates university research to Joe Public

Yaffle is a new tool created at Memorial University to better communicate university research to the public. As Globe and Mail writer Elizabeth Church put it, “A new search engine designed by Memorial University is aiming to make it easier for Joe Public to tap the know-how of the ivory tower.” For those interested in learning more about the project, I recommend having a look at the G&M article: Need to decipher academic material? Yaffle it. My initial look at the tool leads me to think that it is still rough around the edges. From my perspective, aggregating all academic research together in one place is not the major problem in Joe Public understanding academic research. The problem is more that the research itself uses terms and concepts that are unfamiliar and confusing to a non-specialist. That said, it is valuable to have a search engine specialize in academic research rather than the Internet more generally.

In digging through the search engine’s features, I’ve found some good aspects as well as weaknesses. Yaffle does well in demonstrating the link between academic research and economic gain, or showing where such links can be forged. In addition to research, Yaffle also showcases various projects in the works. For example, I came across this project designed to bring IT skills to central Newfoundland: Students Making IT Work For Small Businesses in Central Newfoundland. One area where Yaffle is weak is the expertise finder; one can only browse by academic department or name of expert. For a journalist or somebody who is looking for an expert, I doubt this would be very useful. It is like a library catalogue that restricts searching to title or author. One long term issue for the project’s success is that participation in it is voluntary and, as the Globe article referred to above states, “You can encourage professors to share their research, but there is no incentive for them to do that.” This remark reminds me of open access participation which is likewise not generally supported by formal incentives.

Knowledge Ontario Wants Your Views & Opinions

For the past two months, I’ve volunteered as an intern at Knowledge Ontario’s AskON service. AskON is a virtual reference service that helps students and members of the public with questions and learning more about research. It has been a pleasure to get to know some other librarians from all over the province and assist students. I’ve mainly worked in the university sector of the service and have found it helpful. On at least three occasions, I have had assisted students enough that typed all manner of jubilant thanks. The service is free to residents of Ontario (and others as far as I know; unlike say the BBC, I don’t think Knowlege Ontario imposes hard geographical restrictions) and I welcome you to experiment with it.

If you like what you see, then consider filling in a digital postcard with your comments. You can also see what others have posted about the service.

Convocation

Today, I received my Master of Information Studies degree at the University of Toronto. It was a pleasure to see all the other graduates present and catch up with some other people in my program. I deeply enjoy the rituals and rites of academia, especially the gowns and hoods. I now have three degrees and that will do for the time being. I may yet go back for further study, but seven years of full time university is a lot and I’m interested to focus on the challenges of the workplace.

Near the beginning of the proceedings, the Chancellor of the University stated (in Latin first, then English):

To the benefit of this province and of the Canadian people with all their allies, I, by my authority and that of the whole University, admit you to the various degrees, and I grant you the license of doing those things which pertain to those degrees.

I have been thinking of how to apply this statement to myself as a professional and as a citizen. As a Master of Information, I am well positioned on connecting people with information effectively. I also see it as a duty to keep myself informed about wider trends that shape the context of my work. That covers everything from technology, to law and to broader economics trends in publishing and related industries. This is all in addition to the duties and responsibilities I bear as a well educated person – to participate in democratic life, to contribute to cultural life and to further the development of civilization. Those are all grand, difficult goals but those are the goals that I like.

Neuroscience and what it means for education, work and more

For over a year, I have been reading and learning about the insights of neuroscience. The starting point for such learning should be the science; Dr Norman Doidge’s book “The Brain that changes itself” is a key popular book in this area. There are other books that have developed this theme for other contexts. In the field of economics, I am reading, “Create Your Own Economy” by Tyler Cowen. There is also Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind,” that uses neuroscience as a metaphor to think about business and career development.

To my great delight, the Toronto Star newspaper  has launched an eight day series on neuroscience by writer Alanna Mitchell. Today’s article is called, “Brains: the secret to better schools.” Most of the examples concern the traditional education setting, mainly the primary school level in fact. However, I think the points made in the article can be generalized to other contexts, not least of which is continuing education. Let me take you through a few quotes from the article to get you thinking and hopefully inspired.

“We used to say that intelligence was 80 per cent genetic and 20 per cent environmental,” says Martin Westwell, a neuroscientist in Adelaide at Flinders University. “Now we tend to say that it’s 20 per cent genetic and 80 per cent environmental.”

The brain is malleable. And the research is showing that if students think they can learn, then they do. If they think their intelligence is fixed at a low level – whether because of social or economic status, skin colour, gender, family history, which country they live in – then they stick to that level.

“It is absolutely clear that the brain is not fixed,” says Westwell. “And in schools the kids who see intelligence as malleable have a better trajectory.”

<…>
To many neuroscientists, today’s mainstream education system is mired firmly where medicine was during the Middle Ages. Practices continue based on tradition, not science, just as medieval doctors used leeches to bleed patients without knowing whether it worked.

<…>
“It’s like lighting the fire. Learning skills are inert until they are driven by intrinsic motivation,” says Jonathan Sharples, a neuroscientist at the Institute for Effective Education at the University of York in England.

It’s the opposite of being ordered to memorize something for no apparent reason and then spitting it out on cue. The human brain just doesn’t respond well to being told to hold the body still for long periods, focus the mind and learn something just because another person tells it to do so. The brain needs context and meaning. It needs to know why it should learn.

All of those observations strike me as promising and worthy of contemplation. The claim that modern education is stuck in the dark ages may be a bit controversial but I think there is something to it. Part of the problem may be that those aspiring to apply neuroscience to formal education systems presume that learning is the only or primary goal of formal education. In contrast, Tyler Cowen argues that economists have identified at least three motivations for education: “First, we go to school to learn something. Second, we go to school to demonstrate our smarts and perseverance, or in other words to show that we can ‘jump through hoops.’ Economics call this the ’signaling model of education.’ Third, we go to school because it is (sometimes) fun.” (Create Your Own Economy, p 106).

You can read an overview of the series and read the rest of the articles over at the Toronto Star.

What do you think of these findings? Would they change how you design education programs? What about how you teach others what you know (either in a formal setting or when you are assisting a friend, colleague or family member)? As a professional dedicated to the effective use of information and knowledge, this series reminds me of the complexity of the problem. And that I shouldn’t accept it when people say they are past learning something.

Horrible Histories: “It’s history with the nasty bits left in”

Studying history is one of my great passions and I always find it interesting to learn more history. It seems like every year finds me learning more about different parts of history. Recently, I’ve been reading about the history of finance (The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson), but my other interests include the history of communications, the nineteenth century and other topics. I wasn’t always this way though – I once found history boring way back in elementary school. That started to change with my first visit to the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. In addition to getting to see castles, the Tower of London, Bath, Stonehenge and much more, I read the Horrible Histories series. Writen by Terry Derry and illustrated by Martin Brown, the series promises “history with the nasty bits left in.” What counts as nasty bits? Everything from the Black Death, wars, revolutions, feuding royal families and much more! The first books focused on British history, but it is has since branched out to cover the Romans, Aztecs, the USA and many other places. In addition to the many good books, there is also a BBC TV adaptation and a musical. These short books introduce young readers to history including politics, ordinary life and everything else. The “Horrible Histories” books – and that delightful first visit to Europe – are part of the reason that I am so interested in history.

Why am I blogging about this? As the video embedded below will show – “The Four Georges” – video is a communicaitons tool that educators and librarians have to master better. The “Horrible Histories” approach sometimes uses old fashioned approaches to history, such as a heavy emphasis on royal history and a bias toward the violent and messy parts of history. Then again, documentaries sometimes have a similar bias. History is complex and fascinating, but one has to start somewhere and these books (and later adaptations) may be a good place to start. That just means we use video with other things like primary documents, journal articles, maps and other tools. Today’s students have a variety of learning styles and text is not going to be the only tool we can use. Librarians may want to think about including videos in information literacy more heavily. That will involve thinking through where videos can be useful and what their limits are. I think a Horrible Histories clip could be a good way to begin a history class, for example. Videos like this could also be an interesting way of asking questions about how contemporary Britons thinks about its past.

There are quite a few clips from the TV program Horrible Histories on YouTube, one of the first examples below: “Born 2 Rule” by the Four Georges. Enjoy! I’m going to be humming this for a while.

The Horrible Histories clip on Roman Emperor Caligula is also well worth seeing.

Book Review: “Marketing Today’s Academic Library,” by Brian Matthews

Published in March 2009, Brian Matthew’s book Marketing Today’s Academic Library: a bold new approach to communicating with students has informed my thinking about marketing and how librarians think about their services and users of those services. As I was eager to read it, I had the order the book directly from the publisher which doesn’t make international orders easy (i.e. I had to send a fax using Skype – if Amazon can easily ship to Canada, I don’t see why the ALA can’t). With the main text of the book coming to 162 pages, the book is a fast read with an emphasis on the practical details of marketing the academic library to students. The focus of the book is very much on undergraduate students and grapples with that challenge well. If you are mainly looking for a work about marketing the library to faculty or administrators, then you should look elsewhere. That said, assisting students to excell in their studies can’t make you look bad no matter what. The “big picture” aspect of the book that struck me as particularly insightful was the idea that ‘marketing’ in this context is really about satisfying users and making the environment, products and services of the Library meet those needs. I also very much appreciated the research-driven bent to the book: no campaign should be launched without some research to support it. The book’s prologue and the biographical element of the first chapter also proved an engaging opening to the world of marketing and what it means for academic librarians – the publisher (or author? I’m unsure how the rights would work for this) would do well to offer the prologue and first chapter for free.

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Digital Humanities

In both courses and conversations, I’ve started to explore the digital humanities field and what it means for scholarship and education. Although there are examples of using digital technology to process texts for scholarship dating back several decades (the first known case was in 1949 – using an IBM machine to support religious research being undertaken by an Italian Jesuit, Father Busa), the Web offers more. For example, there is the Internet Shakespeare Editions project based at the University of Victoria. Among other things, it makes it easy to compare texts and seek out differences. The project combines powerful digital interfaces with access to The Illuminated Text. The tension between these two modes of accessing these texts are a useful tension. One can both see texts as they were made (or get close to that process) and manipulate them digitally. Offering multiple means of using such resources is part of the promise of digital humanities. If you’re interested in a general introduction to the field, I recommend (free!) Blackwell’s book, A Companion to the Digital Humanities.

When I first started to learn about digital humanities, it looked like it was largely dominated by English scholars and the occasional computer scientists. In fact, there are many more working in the field, including librarians who are exploring it such as the Chief Librarian of McMaster University and the Chief Librarian at the University of Toronto Mississauga. This is a good trend that needs more encouragement. In addition to connecting users with existing information resources, this is another kind of work I would like to work on – participating in the creation of new tools and supporting the development of new types of scholarship and learning. Just as humanities scholarship is moving beyond using books and print alone, libraries need to make that move as well. It looks like there is much potential to do innovative work in this field. I do wonder about the longevity of some projects which are often funded by short term grants. Libraries and archives may have a role to play here in providing institutional support (along with R&D) to keep these projects online and evolving.

Distance Education: How Can We Do It Well?

Distance education has always struck me as promising idea, especially at the post-secondary or tertiary level. Part of that appeal lies in the fact that it is flexible in timing, allowing students to hold full time employment while they study (no doubt this is stressful, but worthwhile). While I did all my degrees at traditional universities – the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario, I still think there is merit and potential in distance programs. At the university level, there are a few places that I tend to think of as specializing in distance ed: Athabasca University (Alberta), the Open University in the UK or Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia. In addition to all of that, many professional associations offer courses on a distance basis to help professionals learn new skills and expand their competencies.

If the benefits in scheduling flexibility and geography are clear, what are the drawbacks? The affective aspect of learning – connecting with an instructor and fellow students – becomes more difficult. I would also surmise that making friends (and building networks) is likely more difficult. There’s something to be said for the experience of working on a campus newspaper or running the History Students’ Association (both of which I’ve done) that would appear to missing from distance education programs. That non-academic but fun and worthwhile aspect of education should not be discounted. For many, it will likely be one of the enduring merits of seeking a traditional university education. Arguments against distance education (e.g. a 2000 article against online MBAs or a blog post decrying the merits of online education generally) should prompt educators to think more deeply about their programs.

For librarians, the challenge is clear: how do you reach these students and offer them advice and support? These students are not going to walk in the door, after all. The first idea that comes to mind is very tight integration into online course systems such as Blackboard or Sakai would be valuable, as well as referrals from instructors. We need to ask questions like, “How can we make using the Library easier for distance students?” or “What keeps instructors up at night?”  On the latter count, it might be a combination of research skills and low engagement? Even if you are not in a distance education setting, these are questions that need to be grappled with. More and more users will be seeking service on a distance basis – the case of distance education may offer some ideas that others can use. Librarians serving distance education students may well be the canary in the mine for the rest of the profession.